Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Rot, Recycle, RETURN

Sarah Allen of Exmouth provides some very handy tips on living in the modern world:
Futures Forum: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Create 1 wheelie bin of rubbish per 6 months, with kids!
Futures Forum: Sarah's 7Rs > Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Rot, Recycle, Return.
Futures Forum: How to recycle in East Devon

She offers a last look at her ideas via Transition Exmouth:

SARAH'S 7Rs 

To be blunt: we all talk about it but Sarah actually does it so take some leaves out of her book. Here is the link to Sarah Allen’s blog on the subject of reducing waste:

http://www.rhubarbandrunnerbeans.co.uk/how-i-reduced-our-landfill-to-almost-nothing-well-about-13th-full-every-3-weeks-but-that-s-not-so-catchy

Here is Sarah's 7Rs take on that mnemonic: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Rot, Recycle, Return. Sarah agreed to my publishing her notes so here is her advice (her last piece for the moment sadly) on RETURN:

• Return to supermarket/company saying why.
• Find an ethical superstore
• Look at Return The Plastic FB page + Greenpeace’s recent campaign.

In conclusion she says: 'By doing all this, I end up with very little going in my bin; it might seem like a lot of effort and don’t get me wrong in some respects it is. However, I really think a lot of it is simply changing one habit to another'. 

Thanks Sarah.

Transition Exmouth
Transition Exmouth - Home | Facebook 

And here are those Return The Plastic Facebook pages:
Return the Plastic - Frome - Home | Facebook
Return The Plastic Packaging - Home | Facebook
Return the Plastic
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New community online newspaper for East Devon

As reported by Cllr Claire Wright of Ottery: 

Online newspaper launches in East Devon

Posted: 28 Feb 2019 06:14 AM PST

A new online newspaper has just launched in East Devon. The plan is that Nub News will be a presence in each East Devon town including Ottery St Mary. Currently, it is operating in and around Exmouth but is interested in running stories across the district ....

I met with the company’s chief executive, Karl Hancock and East Devon regional editor, Joe Bulmer this afternoon, who told me that this new online model was designed to keep costs to a minimum, which means less need for advertising and clickbait and instead a keen focus on investigative journalism. Otherwise it is a community online newspaper which aims to support local businesses and promote ‘what’s on.’ 

If you have a story for Nub News contact Joe Bulmer, his email address is: joe.bulmer@nub.news

Online newspaper launches in East Devon - Claire Wright

In Exmouth:
Exmouth Area News Round-up | exmouth.nub.news

And in Sidmouth:
Sidmouth Area News Round-up | sidmouth.nub.news
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Brexit: and smuggling on the Devon coast

Oh, for the long-lost days of smuggling!
Futures Forum: Brexit: or, an ode to the hard border

Perhaps there is a certain nostalgia for the good times here in Devon:
Smuggling on the south coast of Devon

Here's a look at post-Brexit Devon, though:

2029 - the eve of the centenary for the Wall Street Crash. 

This is Post-Brexit Britain; smugglers have annexed a part of Cornwall and Devon. 

Mr Lawless has taken over and runs a banana republic answerable to no one and grudgingly tolerated by the UK government. Aubrey East is tasked with dealing with Mr Lawless. He tries to make friends but ends up swimming with Lawless’s glamorous Maserati driving secretary and Lawless’s teenage son, Freddie. When Freddie drowns, he is accused of murdering him. Desperately, Aubrey tries to clear his name while everyone he turns to betray him. Can Aubrey clear his name and convince Lawless he is innocent before Lawless's bodyguards exact a terrible revenge?

Tom: A tale of post-brexit smugglers in a dystopian England: Michael Fitzalan: 9781520741239: Amazon.com: Books

The Telegraph warned that things might get a bit tricky back in 2015: 

Devon’s pirate coastline becomes people smugglers’ new target

UK immigration staff say lack of boats means they are powerless to stop trafficking

By Colin Freeman
8:15PM GMT 12 Dec 2015

With centuries of smuggling history behind them, the folk of south Devon have long romanticised their tradition of landing contraband on beaches in the dead of night.

But despite a plethora of pubs named the Smugglers' Arms, the latest cargo to be trafficked through the coastline's secluded coves is unlikely to get a mention in local tourist guidebooks.

For example: Smugglers Inn, Osmington Mills (C) Robin Lucas :: Geograph Britain and Ireland 

400 years after the county was plagued by pirates snatching locals for ransom, the trade is now in reverse as gangs of people smugglers use its shores to ferry in illegal migrants from France.

The extent of the cross-Channel trade was exposed was last week when a group of fishermen based around Paimpol, a picturesque cod port in Brittany, were jailed for shipping migrants across to Devon. The men, who allegedly worked with a gang of Albanian smugglers, were said to have brought in more than 120 migrants in speedboats and yachts, dropping them off at remote spots between Plymouth in Devon and Weymouth in Dorset.

But while Devon's smugglers of old used to bribe local Customs officials to turn a blind eye, their modern day counterparts exploit a rather different gap in Britain's coastal defences.

For these days, immigration officials complain, there is barely anyone keeping watch in the first place. Despite rising concern about the influx of migrants into Britain, the UK Border Force has only two Cutters allocated to patrolling the Channel.

UK Border Force's newest cutter, HMC Protector - Wikimedia Commons

Indeed, there are only five for Britain's entire coastline, and as the Telegraph reported earlier this year, that force was reduced to just one during the summer, when two cutters were out of action, and the other two were deployed to help with the people smuggling crisis in the Mediterranean.

"It is not so much a question of overwhelming our defences, more that we don't really have any in the first place," said Lucy Moreton, general secretary of the Immigration Services Union, which represents UK Border Force staff. "We have only two cutters patrolling the Channel, and that alone is a lot of sea. As a trade union representative, I don't like to go on all the time about how we need more staff, but it's true in this case."

The prosecutions in Brittany followed a lengthy undercover operation by French police, who began their investigation after 14 Albanians without British visas were stopped on a yacht that had set out from Cherbourg in 2013.

It appears to confirm fears that traffickers based in Calais have started developing alternatives to their more-established routes to Dover and Folkestone, which are now more heavily policed. Paimpol is 400 miles west of Calais, but lies only 100 miles south of Devon, where a coastline of inlets connected to remote country roads offers easy transit points for smugglers.

The use of private boats - as opposed to smuggling migrants in on lorries using cross-Channel ferries - is also a new tactic, and appears to be aimed at wealthier migrants with more money to spend. Quite how often it is happening is a mystery. The Home Office has twice declined this year to give the Telegraph any figures on how many private boats its believes are engaged in cross-Channel people smuggling, although Ms Morton suspects the lack of candour may be because "we really don't know how big a problem this is”.

Either way, though, harbour masters along south-west England’s coastline have been warned to be vigilant. So to have volunteers with the National Coastwatch Institution - set up in 1994 after the closure of many HM Coast Guard observation stations.

Exmouth: The National Coastwatch... (C) Nigel Cox :: Geograph Britain and Ireland

"While I haven't seen any suspicious activity myself, the police and immigration service do ask us to be alert to it," said Grahame Forshaw, Harbour Master at Lyme Regis in Dorset. "The situation is regrettable - we have a very exposed coastline and it is just not policed at all."

Tell-tale signs include vessels that look overloaded, or abandoned dinghies and inflatables that are used for the final journey between the boat's anchoring spot and the shore. It is thought that most migrants are then picked up by car and taken to London, as an asylum claim at the nearest coastal police station would give the smugglers' routes away.

The trade is a mirror image of a similar one that plagued Devon in the 1600s, when Barbary pirates prowled the coastline looking for hostages to take back to the slave markets of North Africa. Today many of the migrants trying to cross into Britain from France come the opposite way, taking boats across the Mediterranean from lawless Libya.

The UK Border Force told the Telegraph that it relied mainly on an "intelligence-led" approach to the problem, with officials trying to hunt them down trafficking gangs pro-actively rather than simply trying to catch them in the act.

However, the case in Paimpol was the result of an under-cover operation led by French officials rather than British ones. And Ms Moreton warned that with more migrants than ever now seeking to cross into Britain, smugglers could start using private boats much more than before, potentially overwhelming the authorities by sheer force of numbers.

"This is a significant vulnerability, and there is a risk that people smugglers will catch onto it more as word among those wanting to cross the Channel spreads by mobile phone or social media."

James Brokenshire, the immigration minister, said: "Security at the border is our priority and Border Force vessels are deployed to intercept any suspicious small craft travelling to the UK. Border Force officers use hi-tech search equipment to combat immigration crime and detect banned and restricted goods that smugglers attempt to bring into the country."

Devon’s pirate coastline becomes people smugglers’ new target - Telegraph
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How to recycle in East Devon

Sarah Allen of Exmouth has got some handy ideas:
Futures Forum: Sarah's 7Rs > Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Rot, Recycle, Return.

- which she very much puts into practice:
Futures Forum: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Create 1 wheelie bin of rubbish per 6 months, with kids!

Here are her latest, as passed on to Transition Exmouth:

Sarah's 7Rs

To be blunt: we all talk about it but Sarah actually does it so take some leaves out of her book. Here is the link to Sarah Allen’s blog on the subject of reducing waste:

http://www.rhubarbandrunnerbeans.co.uk/how-i-reduced-our-landfill-to-almost-nothing-well-about-13th-full-every-3-weeks-but-that-s-not-so-catchy

Here is Sarah's 7Rs take on that mnemonic: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Rot, Recycle, Return. Sarah agreed to my publishing her notes so here is her advice on RECYCLE:

• Anything not able to be dealt with using the previous “R’s” is recycled if possible.
• Kerb-side: plastic bottles and containers, glass, tins/cans, textiles, shoes, batteries, paper, cardboard, electrical items and foil. (www.eastdevon.gov.uk, scroll down to ‘Recycling and Rubbish’, click and then click on ‘A-Z of recycling and disposals)
• Tesco/Coop: plastic food bags from things like fruit, bread, frozen peas, cereal bags etc. to be recycled with carrier bags. (I have a lot less than I used to but still have some)
• Sainsburys Pinhoe Road: Plastic film such as the non-stretchy type around products like spinach, the top of ham packets and cheese bags.
• Recycling labelling- often plastic inside cardboard (do the squeeze test) “Not Yet Recycled”, this simply means less than 20% of local authorities collect it across the UK, it doesn’t actually mean you can’t recycle it. (link https://plasticfreeportal.com/reduce-reuse-recycle-superboosted)

Thanks Sarah.

Transition Exmouth
Transition Exmouth - Home | Facebook 

The District Council can only do so much:
Futures Forum: District Council and plastic pollution >>> Sending plastic to the correct reprocessor: a follow-up FOI request >>> "Information not held"

And we've got a problem with plastic bags:
Futures Forum: Plastic bags or paper bags
Futures Forum: Plastic bags: "The public want to recycle, but local authorities are failing to do their bit by making it possible."
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Brexit: and uncertainty in the property market putting the brakes on councils' speculative investments

Councils have less and less income from central government, so are playing the commercial property market:
Futures Forum: 'Casino councils' looking for alternative sources of funding and loading up with debt to play the property market

Which includes 'investment' in projects at home:
Futures Forum: Regenerating Exmouth seafront >>> District Council commits to £1.2m costs
Futures Forum: Regenerating Exmouth seafront >>> taking decisions with objectivity, integrity, honesty and accountability
Futures Forum: Regenerating Exmouth seafront: development vs World Heritage Site status

However, Brexit seems to be dampening those investments: 

Brexit fears hit council property investments as contingency funds confirmed

BY COLIN MARRS
— 31 JAN, 2019

Uncertainty over the impact of Brexit on the UK property market has hit two major council investment projects.

Essex County Council this week formally removed £6m from the budget for its £50m property investment fund after pausing further purchases due to worries over Brexit.

Meanwhile, Brighton & Hove City Council has been forced to delay the signing of a development agreement on a regeneration scheme in which it is planning to invest £8m.

The problems emerged in a week that communities secretary James Brokenshire announced allocations for councils under a new £56m fund to help them prepare for Brexit.

In a report to councillors, Margaret Lee, executive director for corporate and customer services, recommended the £6m reduction in Essex’s property investment fund, saying: “Due to the uncertainties caused by Brexit and the potential impact on the property market, the scheme has been paused with no further purchases planned.”

The pause in investment was originally agreed by Essex councillors in November, after advice from its adviser Hymans Robertson not to expand its commercial property programme “due to the current market conditions including the unknown impact of Brexit”.

However, the council has now decided to remove £6m from the investment programme budget as part of a package of measures that will help the authority reach a forecast underspend of £29.6m in its 2018/19 capital spending programme. Before the programme was halted, £44m of the fund had been spent on property, which the council says is already yielding £1m for council services.

Essex is set to review whether to restart commercial property investment through the fund during the summer.

Meanwhile, in Brighton, councillors have been forced to delay a deadline they set for housebuilder Crest Nicholson to sign the development agreement on the King Alfred leisure centre and housing regeneration scheme.

Originally, councillors had proposed to walk away from discussions with the developer unless it signed the deal by 31 January. However, it extended the deadline until 30 March – the day after the UK’s date for leaving the European Union (EU), following a last minute plea from Crest.

In a letter to the council, it cited “challenging economic uncertainties surrounding Brexit and the impact this could yet have on the construction industry workforce and wider confidence and stability of the property market”.

It added that “as soon as we have greater certainty over the nature and form of the Brexit arrangement which we all hope and expect will be achieved shortly, and assuming this does give reasonable certainty over the future trading relations with Europe, then we will enter into the development agreement and commit the team and resources required to promote the scheme, develop the design and seek planning in accordance with the conditions and programme”.

In 2016, the council committed £8m to the project, which comprises a sports centre, swimming pool, underground parking and 565 homes in blocks of up to 18 storeys high.

Brexit fears hit council property investments as contingency funds confirmed | Room 151
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Knowle relocation project: selling off council furniture and chattels to councillors > So, that's alright, then.

The saga over selling off bits of Knowle started off with a letter to Councillors:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: selling off council furniture and chattels to councillors

And spread quickly on-line:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: fantasy 'cost savings over twenty years' are of no interest to people in East Devon

The District Council has just responded: 

Sidmouth and Ottery breaking news and sport - Sidmouth Herald

With the piece already on-line: 

Condemning rumours over East Devon Districts Council’s auction of public property quashed

PUBLISHED: 11:00 18 January 2019
Beth Sharp

East Devon District Council offices at The Knowle. Ref shs 03 19TI 8509. Picture: Terry Ife

Rumours that public property was sold off to council workers behind closed doors for cheap, have been dismissed by council bosses.

The rumours emerged on social media, and several people approached the Herald, as East Devon District Council (EDDC) is preparing to move its Sidmouth headquarters at the Knowle, to Exmouth and Honiton.

As part of the move the authority has been finding homes for various items, that are unsuitable for its new building.

Council bosses have slammed recent claims that one councillor managed to buy a large mahogany dining table and 20 chairs for £50 at an internal staff auction, instead of allowing it to be publicly auctioned for the best possible price. A council spokesman said this was ‘totally incorrect’, with the bid actually being for £400 and only including some of the chairs. However, after the bid was submitted, Exmouth Town Council showed an interest and the councillor who made the £400 offer agreed to withdraw.

The spokesman said they had agreed to use three disposal methods for the items which are no longer needed. There include the use of auction houses for valuable items and an internal auction for staff and members, for items not wanted by the auction houses. Some items have been offered for free to town and parish councils, charities and other local community groups.

Items earmarked for the auction house, including a bell push and a map table. Other tables and chairs are waiting to be sold while valuations are carried out.

The internal auction has already taken place, raising around £2,000 for the Chairman’s Civic Fund’s chosen charities. These items primarily comprise office chairs, bookshelves, metal drawers, small filing cabinets and other small bits of furniture.

There are still a number of items left, including metal filing cabinets, desks, whiteboards and shelves. Some local councils have been in touch requesting some of the items.

Whatever is left will be offered to local charities and other local groups. Once the council has vacated the building, groups will be invited in to see whether there are any other items left over that they want to take.

A spokesman said: “These processes were put in place to achieve the best value for these assets given it was all second-hand, well-used furniture which had a very limited value. Computers and phones have not been offered to staff.”

Condemning rumours over East Devon Districts Council’s auction of public property quashed | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald

Others would beg to differ, with a Freedom of Information request asking obvious questions not answered above:
Auction of Council Furniture Chattels, etc - a Freedom of Information request to East Devon District Council - WhatDoTheyKnow

And the East Devon Watch blog has a few more very obvious questions: 

KNOWLE FLOG IT: STATEMENT RAISES MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS

18 January 2019

An “explanation” of the Knowle Flog It fiasco appears in today’s Sidmouth Herald. It appears to be printed verbatim from a council statement.

Owl wonders why this statement was printed without challenging some of its very, very vague claims – one hesitates to use the word ‘facts’. “Journalism”? Not as Owl knows it!

Guess some answers MIGHT come from the Freedom of Information request by an Exmouth resident on 8 January 2019:
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2019/01/10/the-knowle-flog-it-scandal-rumbles-on/

In the meantime:



Amongst Owl’s questions:

It seems Councillor Skinner paid £400 for the table he wanted so urgently – earlier reports mentioned it being valued at a very low price, much lower than £400. Which is correct? And including just how many chairs?

Who decided on the “three disposal methods? It does not appear to be the Asset Management Group.

Which councillors have bought items? Have they declared these on their Registers of Interest?

Which groups were offered ‘free’ items, how were they chosen and by whom? Have any of these groups taken items – and if so, which groups and how much did they pay for them?

What exactly is the Chairman’s Civic Fund and how and when has it been used recently and in the past? What are its rules? Who oversees the disbursements?

Which local groups and charities will be able to bid for what is left after officers and councillors have taken their pick? How have they been chosen and by whom?

Are internal and external auditors happy with the procedures?

Will the Scrutiny Committee be scrutinising these actions?

Owl is sure readers have many more questions!

Knowle Flog It: statement raises more questions than answers | East Devon Watch
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Knowle relocation project: financial profligacy in a time of austerity

It seems that more and more people are questioning the cost-effectiveness, if not profligacy, over the extravagant move of the District Council from Sidmouth to Honiton:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: fantasy 'cost savings over twenty years' are of no interest to people in East Devon

Especially in these difficult financial times:
Futures Forum: District and County Council announce spending plans in a new year of austerity for local government

Here is one estimate of the amount of money being spent on the relocation project:

Expenditure:
= £10.5 million (+ new road) for the Honiton HQ + £1.5 million for refurbishment of the Exmouth Town Hall 
= £12 million

Income:
= £7.5 m for Knowle from PegasusLife

Deficit:
= £4.5 m to be financed by borrowing

This is when East Devon District Council’s new Honiton HQ will be ‘open for business’ | Honiton, Axminster and Seaton news - Midweek Herald
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: ready to move, but at what cost...

And here are other estimates :
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: "The true cost of relocation is almost certainly at least £20 million."
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: Freedom of Information requests > and questions of money, process and viability

A report was sent to central government last year:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: ready to move, but at what cost...

Here is the opening section:

FINANCIAL PROFLIGACY 

EDDC has chosen to divert funds it does not have to the building of new headquarters – as indeed have other councils, to their cost. As such, EDDC’s commitment to spending well over £10million can only be described “as a ‘milestone’ for debt – taken on by council tax payers in East Devon. No matter how you spin this project, it is not residents who will benefit. And few if any of the councillors making these decisions will be around in 20 years when the true costs and ‘savings’ are known.”

There has been a huge lack of confidence in these figures throughout the project.14 The campaign group Save Our Sidmouth has opposed the move, believing “that EDDC has not done its sums correctly, has not properly assessed the cost of renovations to part of the existing Knowle buildings and that the risk in building a new office – borrowing up to £4.8 m and paying for the ‘savings’ over a 20 year period – is far too risky in the current economic climate”. 

Cost-neutral: 
From the beginning of its relocation project, EDDC claimed it would be ‘cost neutral’ – but after vacillating between the options over several years, the costs have now escalated. And yet these principal reasons for relocation have been proven time and again to be totally spurious, if not hopelessly under-estimated. Borrowing: EDDC is taking out substantial loans to finance this project: at its own admission “the 2016/17 borrowing requirement is made up as follows: £5,990,000 Office Relocation” – although these figures seem to change as and when. 

Staffing: 
EDDC continues to promote the notion that its ‘Worksmart’ project “is set to save the Council £6m over the next 20 years”. And yet the figures for staff numbers subsequent to the move continue to be unclear, casting doubt on these “savings” – with EDDC refusing to provide full details of their ‘hot-desking’ arrangements. 

Energy use: 
As for their initial promises of large energy savings, EDDC claim they will save £5.55m over 20 years by moving from Knowle; again, these figures have been proven to be wildly inaccurate and so extremely contentious. Moreover, EDDC has refused to provide detailed energy figures to verify their cost calculations; they will not countenance considering alternative costings, such as remaining at Knowle; and they have ignored their own scrutiny committee’s instruction to allow the commissioning of an independent survey on the state of Knowle. 

Asset value: 
EDDC has just sold Knowle site for £7.5million, a sale which had by no means been guaranteed. They will be spending the same amount to build new headquarters at the Heathpark industrial estate in Honiton – at a site which had been earlier rejected by buyers for £3million. EDDC admit that the value of the new Honiton building is far less than the cost of construction.

EAST-DEVON-DISTRICT-COUNCIL’S-“RELOCATION-PROJECT”-STATEMENT-OF-OBJECTION-16-July-2018.pdf
Knowle relocation project: a summary of the issues - Vision Group for Sidmouth.
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And (not) making progress at East Devon

It's all about 'progress':
Futures Forum: 1939: Walter Benjamin on 'the storm we call progress'

And that ideology is very much with us at local government level too.

When it comes to the tricky area of FINANCE, there is always going to be 'progress' - despite the realities:
Futures Forum: District and County Council announce spending plans in a new year of austerity for local government

For example:

The progress of the service plan objectives is reported on quarterly through our performance reporting pages

Monthly performance reporting
Performance reports are provided once a month to our cabinet committee to monitor progress of selected measures and identify any service areas where improvement is necessary.
The first section of the report is a monthly performance snapshot which provides information on a selection of performance targets and some of our service achievements and activity for the month. The report moves on to show progress against our key performance indicators for the month, including sickness absence...

Monthly performance reporting - East Devon

Let's look at a couple of other areas - and the spin of the press release.

Ten years ago there were all sorts of promises made about the 'progress' of CRANBROOK becoming some sort of 'eco-town':

Exeter and East Devon Growth Point
Housing Minister John Healey today announced that East Devon District Council is to receive a share in a £10 million funding pot to help Cranbrook meet pioneering eco-town standards for sustainable growth. The £200,000 share will enable East Devon District Council to develop their Masterplan for Cranbrook test the potential for higher standards, helping them to lead the way as "Green Champions".
Talking about the addition of Cranbrook to the eco-town second wave shortlist, (together with a settlement in Fareham), Housing and Planning Minister John Healey said "I am pleased to announce two new areas in the eco-town second wave. Councils are making great progress and already highlighting where they can apply tough green standards in new developments. This signals real and radical momentum to change and re-think how we design our towns and homes for the future".

Latest News - Exeter and East Devon Growth Point 

Then there is HOUSING, with regular 'progress reports' coming out of the council, but at the time of the creation of the Local Plan, these were somewhat overshadowed by the promises made to undercover Telegraph reporters:
‘Perfect storm’ brewing as EDDC gives progress report on the new Local Plan | Save Our Sidmouth
One step forward and two steps back | Susie Bond
Futures Forum: Housing in East Devon: "I don’t see it as the floodgates opening, but I do see a stampede coming.”

Meanwhile in Sidmouth there has been the BEACH MANAGEMENT PLAN, with 'progress' promised last year - after many other such assurances, including from Cllr Graham Brown who had chaired the BMP group some ten years ago:
4 June 2018 - Outline business case for Sidmouth and East Beach Management Scheme makes steady progress - East Devon
Futures Forum: Beach Management Plan: District Council press release on meeting of 10th May > "Outline business case makes steady progress"

And in Exmouth we've had all sorts of promises for their seafront: 

Save Exmouth Seafront campaigners challenge ‘arrogant’ Queen’s Drive plans
21 November 2018 

EDDC said it was ‘making sure’ it was on track to deliver what residents want.
An EDDC spokeswoman said: “The council is not prepared to allow further delays on the delivery of a new road and car park, which will pave the way for the much awaited water sports centre and a vision for the wider Queen’s Drive site.”
She added: “We also appreciate that there are a number of long term detractors who have their concerns about how the new seafront is taking shape, so we want to provide reassurance that we are constantly keeping under review the programme of development and maintaining progress while keeping Exmouth people informed on what we are doing.”
She said the council was ‘fully committed’ to the ongoing consultation with the public about changes to the seafront.

Save Exmouth Seafront group challenges redirection of Queen's Drive | Latest Exmouth News - Exmouth Journal

Then of course there is KNOWLE - where there was considerable reluctance by the council to reveal 'progress reports':
Disclosure of Progress Reports for the Knowle - a Freedom of Information request to East Devon District Council - WhatDoTheyKnow
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: "Progress reports to date must be released"

The opposite of 'progress' is 'barbarism':

Save Our Sidmouth campaign hits Private Eye | Save Our Sidmouth
Futures Forum: Gavin Stamp: late architectural historian and critic >>> as Piloti in Private Eye, he gracefully thundered against architectural 'barbarism' - including plans to demolish Knowle, Sidmouth
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Regenerating Exmouth seafront >>> Sustainable Exmouth looking for 'a forward-looking eco-design that features all the latest thinking in materials, construction and renewable utilities.'

Sustainable Exmouth proposed bringing in Hemingway Design to help inject some vision into the development along the seafront:
Futures Forum: Regenerating Exmouth seafront >>> HemingwayDesign portal launched

Although the council still seems to be rather reticent:
Futures Forum: Regenerating Exmouth seafront >>> Town Council's not-quite public meeting on Tuesday 11th December

The Transition Town group Sustainable Exmouth reports on the latest meeting:

Sustainable Exmouth

I have notes from members Andy Lock and Anne-Marie Culhane who attended, along with 50 others, the recent meeting with Wayne Hemingway. Thanks very much to them.

I can share their report with any member who asks.

Hemingway presented his survey results (available on his Website). The research provided direction to a design approach for the execution of any ideas which are contemporary, eclectic, and environmentally sensitive. The design brief is broadly intended to reflect the local topography, sea-front location and use of ‘natural’ materials wherever possible.

Hemingway shared 12 concepts which were presented as highly finished designs. He emphasised however that these are for consideration only and that at THIS STAGE the discussion remains entirely open and not only are new ideas welcome but that the designs themselves will require further consideration as the entire plan for the site evolves.

It would appear however that nothing truly innovative has been considered, all the possibilities mentioned can likely be found elsewhere and thus our report's note of a lack of vision seems justified. Seems that Tourist Resort marketing is the intention and facilities that would really please us did not get much support. Our yardstick must remain:

‘A FORWARD-LOOKING ECO-DESIGN THAT FEATURES ALL THE LATEST THINKING IN MATERIALS, CONSTRUCTION AND RENEWABLE UTILITIES.’

We can yet revert to Hemingway with proposals but he was clear that a commercial case must be made out for the profitability of the whole.

Transition Exmouth | Facebook
http://www.transitionexmouth.uk
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Knowle relocation project: selling off council furniture and chattels to councillors

The District Council's leadership clearly felt that the fittings and furnishings at Knowle are rather nice - as they had a photo of their leader standing in front of a fireplace for the latest press release:

Futures Forum: District Council annual message: "East Devon's many achievements over the last year"

When the District Council moves to Honiton, it will not be taking the Victorian fireplace with it:
Futures Forum: Knowle: Victorian hotel: heritage asset or not...
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: and protecing our heritage

However, a Councillor (who makes it clear that they are from Exmouth) will be taking something with them: the rather nice table in the Members' Room:

Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: "Impressive 1880s Victorian heritage"

As revealed earlier today by the East Devon Watch blog:

PLUNDERING OF KNOWLE ASSETS BY COUNCILLORS? BEST VALUE?

21 DEC 2018

It appears that councillors and officers have been given first dibs of Knowle assets, in advance of the move to Honiton and one of them has rather jumped the gun on claiming his prize.

Is this best value or equitable, Owl ponders? As does at least one independent councillor.

Note: Neither of these emails were marked private and/or confidential when acquired by Owl.

From a well-known Conservative councillor:

Subject: Re; Large Table In Members Area

“Dear Members and SMT,

Subject: Re; Large Table In Members Area

You will all be aware there has been an auction of council furniture, chattels etc of which I bid for a few bits and pieces.

I bid on behalf of my partner for the very large table in the members area along with the 20 green chairs that we all sit around.

I have been told that I have been successful in my bid so the table along with the 8’ extension is heading back to Exmouth to sit in (address of councillor), Exmouth in its rightful Town (some may say).

The relevance of my informing yourselves is that the rightful date of removal is end of January/ beginning of February when we finally ‘pull out of the Knowle.

I would apologise for the short notice but we have 22 family members to Christmas dinner and would like to pick the table up tomorrow as it appears it is the last day of our offices being open, which of course would mean I couldn’t collect it on Monday, 24th, as we will be closed.

We do have one or two meetings between the New Year and our final pull out but I feel it only right to ask members if indeed anybody felt offended if it was collected tomorrow on our last day.

I will fully respect any position any member may feel regarding it being removed earlier and would kindly request your thoughts.

If indeed it were removed earlier I have spoken to Simon Allchurch who feels we could put a few of the red tables on wheels in the place of the table and there is an array of chairs to use for members in the interim so it doesn’t look bare.

I must again apologise for the short notice but with the closing date being the 19th and all that goes with it at this time of year I would like to think you may grant me a little latitude (or not).

Best wishes and a Happy Xmas to one and all.”

And here is the response from an Independent councillor

“I feel I must reiterate my comment from when this started. Who authorised the ‘private sale’ of Council property to staff and members? Why are we not duty-bound to seek the best price at public auction? No-one answered my questions.

Will we ever know the proceeds of this internal sale for the public record?

I strongly suspect that members of the public would be shocked to know that councillors have been able to buy items in this way. It is somehow appropriate that 22 family members will sit down to feast at this table, assuming the removal goes ahead.”

Plundering of Knowle assets by councillors? Best value? | East Devon Watch
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Questions about waste in Devon >>> “We want people to see waste differently and as a resource, not just the spoils of every day life waiting for disposal”

The County Council is trying to do better things with our waste:
Futures Forum: Plastic waste > County Council's workshop ‘Making plastic pollution a thing of the past’ > but "the fact that plastic recycling is dubious and not the answer... got very heated"

But there are problems:
Futures Forum: Councils cut plastic recycling

There are still questions about what is being done with our waste:
Futures Forum: Currently 55% of household waste is recycled in Devon > with a potential of up to 71% > the rest is incinerated

And Transition Exmouth has been asking a few questions:

SUEZ and the EWP

Yes Suez’s on the map again. On our behalf, Grant Shipcott has been in contact with both Suez about another visit to their materials recycling centre at Greendale and with Devon County Council about a visit to the Exeter incinerator ( err sorry: the ‘Energy from Waste Plant’) operated by Viridor/Tiru S.A.

We should all be aware that none of our black bin waste actually goes to landfill; it gets burnt. At the plant’s opening ceremony, Viridor’s Chief Executive Ian McAulay proclamed: “We want people to see waste differently and as a resource, not just the spoils of every day life waiting for disposal”. So that’s OK people, obviously the more waste the better! There are many questions that we should be asking. Grant cannot pursue the arrangements further so would those wishing to visit either facility please contact me and we’ll set something up.

Home Page
Transition Exmouth - Home | Facebook

More questions are being asked:
Futures Forum: County Council and plastic pollution >>> "the Council will use its position and responsibility to raise awareness of the issues surrounding single-use plastics" >>> BUT the Council "does not hold information" on how its reprocessors deal with its plastic waste

With more to follow...
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